Welcome to Birmingham! How local people and artists transformed Digbeth Coach Station into an award-winning gateway

Outcomes

'Boundary' by Rob Colbourne and Stuart Mugridge

Commissioned artists Rob Colbourne and Stuart Mugridge created the concept for the boundary art following community engagement and extensive historical research. The inspiration for the fence came from the coach site’s industrial past as the headquarters for Midland Red coaches, reflected in the colour, and the former home to scales manufacturer Avery, reflected in the form of the fence which is designed to provide notions of balance, flow and transition – themes that were put forward by the local community. The installation is site-specific, with reference to both the geographical and human context that it is rooted in. In this way the completion of each installation has been governed by co-production - creating dependency, mutuality and reciprocity between the local area, its inhabitants and the artist.

‘Irish Quarter Visual Artwork’ Dave Sherry

Irish artist Dave Sherry was commissioned to produce a piece of artwork as the first visual representation of the Irish Quarter in Digbeth, Birmingham. The development of the piece was informed by a community workshop event where local residents entered a ‘dairy room’ where they shared their memories of Digbeth and spoke about the impact of the coach station in this area. It was these impression of the Irish Quarter in Birmingham that shaped the concept of the artwork and Dave’s research into Irish culture that helped him chose the phrase ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’. The origin of the phrase comes from the Gaelic ‘Cead mile falite’ yet the translation of the phrase would bring an international appeal whilst also making a direct connection to the Irish Community and their importance in the history of Digbeth. Members of the public were invited to write the phrase ‘Cead mile falite’ in their handwriting at the event, out of 60 submissions the panel chose the handwriting of Sister Sabina MBE to be featured on the installation, creating a public art piece which is fully integrated with the public that view it.